A Certain Scientific Fanfiction Chapter 1, Part 1
by Marcosias Isif
Summary: When Akari Tsukiyume leans about the Academy City, where people with special abilities reside, he decides that his life is better spent there.  However, as it is known, there are dangers in the city of schools as well...


Chapter 1: The Technologically-Advanced "Academy City"

"You're nothing special." That's what I have been told since I was five. Not just by bullies, either; my friends, my teachers… even my own father said that to me. I wanted more than anything to prove them wrong. But I had no chance. When would I have my chance to shine? I was upset by the thought of losing, so I kept struggling. That's when I heard about it: a chance to prove them wrong.

When I was nine, my father was talking to one of his associates at a formal party about a city that was so famous for its "special" students. All I needed to hear was "special" and I asked my father immediately. At first, he laughed and said, "Son, please. That city is far above your abilities." However, a year later, I was on a train bound for the city of special people. While on the train, I had time to think. I had just signed my life away to a strange place that I was unfamiliar with, as well as the fact that I wouldn't be living with my parents anymore. Somehow, I was more enticed than ever. That is, until all these rumors started going around the train. "Did you know? They say that He was finally defeated!" "Did you hear? The guy who's a Level 0 beat the Rank One Level 5!" Level this and level that kept being thrown around by kids the same age as me, and even stranger words by the older students. Things like "AIM" and "Personal Reality"… it was all Greek to me.

The train arrived at a platform about an hour later. According to the letter my father had given me before I left, I was the third platform. I went to the conductor with the sheet of paper, and he told me, "That stop is about ninety-four miles that way. It'll be about another hour." I looked in the direction he was pointing, but all I could see was trees. So I bit my lip and went back to the seats. I was so curious about this "special city" that I could hardly sleep at all on the way there. At the second stop, the conductor and some engineer told the passengers that there was going to be a delay. Bored, I decided to go look around to see if there was anything of better interest. Being only ten, many things could've interested me.

I found a shop that sold cell phones, of which I would buy later. I decided to browse the shop, looking at all the different accessories to go with the most up-to-date phones: headphones, Bluetooth, and lots of home accessories. I laid my eyes on an iPod with 16 gigabytes of memory. One of the store clerks must have seen me looking at it, because she came over and said, "Would you like to buy that?" I snapped straight up and turned to her, startled by her sudden appearance. As I calmed down, she seemed to just realize that I was a kid. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she said. "Are you lost?" I leered at her. Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't have money. Of course, I didn't say that aloud.

As I left the store, an announcement from the station stated that the train would be leaving in ten minutes. Realizing that I had just enough time to rush back, I did so. Around this time, however, there were lots of people crowding the streets, making it even harder to get back to the station. As I entered the platform area, I bumped into someone – a middle-school girl with brown, short hair who was wearing a high-class uniform. I quickly got up to apologize, but the girl grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. "If you're in a hurry," she said kindly, "don't worry about apologies." She ran towards the train, still gripping my wrist. I tried to break free, but she was very strong.

As we boarded the train, she let my arm go (which, mind you, had a red mark on it from her monster grip). The girl caught her breath, and then she turned to me. "Now then," she stated. "Where are you headed?" I looked at her. She looked back with a sort of glow, as if she was really glowing. I snapped out of my trance and said, "I'm going… here." I pulled out the map my father had given me, to which she looked at and smiled. "What a coincidence," she said. "I'm headed back to Academy City, too." That name stuck with me: Academy City. It had a good ring to it. The girl scanned me, as if to see if I had an ID. "Which school are you going to?" I told her that I would be arriving at Academy City for the first time. "I wanted to become one of the special people here," I told her proudly. "You wanted to become one of the special people?" She repeated.

She sat down and took a deep breath. "Listen," she started, "Academy City isn't all just studying and shopping. There are times when your life can be on the line because of a simple comment." I looked at her, puzzled. She apparently didn't notice, though, because she gasped and said loudly, "Introductions! We haven't introduced ourselves!" She stood up again, and said, "My name is Misaka Mikoto." She extended her hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you…" I extended my hand in return, and said, "My name is Akari Tsukiyume. It's very nice to meet you." As she shook my hand, she stated, "You have really good manners." She turned away and made a face, then added, "Unlike someone I could name…" I ignored the last comment and sat down. She turned back my way and sat down next to me. "If it will be your first time in Academy City, do you need a hand finding places?" I shook my head. "The lady my dad was talking to told me that she would set everything up for me." Misaka-san nodded, and then leaned back in her seat.

When we finally arrived at the station, Misaka-san waved as she dashed off of the platform. "Sorry," she yelled, "I'd love to hang out, but I'm meeting some friends at a diner!" I nodded and waved back as she disappeared into the large crowd of people. Since it was getting crowded, I decided to also rush off the platform. When I got outside the platform gates, I was amazed. All around me, probably for miles across, there were tall buildings and bustling streets. Most, if not all of the people seemed to be in some sort of school uniform; the obvious differentiations in the school uniforms would be easy to remember. I had already memorized Misaka-san's high-class uniform.

As I walked into the streets of people, I heard someone calling my name. "Tsukiyume-kun! Akari Tsukiyume-kun! Over here!" I turned to the direction of the voice to see two people; the woman that my father had been discussing about my arrangements, and an unfamiliar man. I walked over to the two and asked, "Who are you?" The man smiled warmly and bowed to me. "Nice to meet you, Tsukiyume-kun," he said lightly. "I'm going to be your teacher, as well as your dorm's vice headmaster." I bowed in return and introduced myself. "My name is Akari Tsukiyume. It's nice to meet you too, Sensei." The lady smiled, and motioned for me to follow her. "There'll be time for other introductions later," she said. "For now, let's go get you what you'll need to survive here."

As we were walking, I asked the lady, "What are we going to get?" She smiled. "The basics for a student, of course," she said. "Let's see… for you, we'll need paper, pencils, a laptop…" I sighed. It was the same as it was back at home. She glanced at me, and then added, "…as well as a cell phone and a data recorder." I looked up to her. "What's a data recorder?" I asked. She shook her head and said, "You don't need to know for now."


End file.
